'It’s pretty sad and pathetic that a game with difficult content can’t get on the larger marketplaces:' Despite creeping censorship on Steam and Epic, these devs are fighting to make a transgressive stop-motion horror game
Indie duo Talha & Jack Co are working on a disturbing, transgressive horror game in Abide, and they are keenly aware of the risks involved with such a project in today's climate. "Horror seems to be under pressure from censorship, some subtle and some blatant," The duo wrote on Abide's Kickstarter page.
"Sites are delisting mature rated games and recently a horror game was taken off some of the biggest marketplaces." The game in question was Horses, a thematically challenging, gruesome game taken off both Steam and Epic.
When I spoke to Talha Kaya and Jack King-Spooner about Abide, I wanted to hear more of their thoughts on the state of gaming censorship as they work on a game that could prove particularly vulnerable to the delisting actions we've been seeing from major storefronts.
"I bought, played, and liked Horses. I think it’s a good game," said Kaya. "I also met with the developer and the publisher at an event during development and didn’t sense any ill-intent in their making of the game. They struck me as people who just want to make something a bit different.
"I understand some of the themes and imagery were too much for some people. But I think it’s clear no portion of the game is pornographic in nature. I believe it deserved shelf space on the most popular digital stores. It’s okay to not like it, or even find it problematic, that shouldn’t stop it from being available."
King-Spooner similarly enjoyed the game and thought it should be more widely available, but even argued that its developers could have gone further with the game's disturbing scenes. "I liked Horses but it pulled a lot of punches in my unhinged opinion: Genitals censored, cut away for the genital mutilation," he said.
King-Spooner lamented that "it's pretty sad and pathetic that a game with difficult content can’t get on the larger marketplaces," attributing it to people believing "you should disengage your brain when playing a game" or even "the hang up of games being a modern kid’s toy."
It was a nice change of pace to hear serious talk of Horses beyond what it means for gaming industry censorship, something PCG contributor Maddi Chilton advocated for in her critical appraisal from late last year. In contrast with King-Spooner, though, Maddi felt Horses' greatest failing was one of pacing: It didn't allow for enough tension, silence, or even boredom between its most harrowing scenes.
Talha & Jack Co's Abide is currently fundraising on Kickstarter with less than a week left to make its initial funding goal. I've already been hooked by its gruesome evolution on the duo's claymation presentation, as well as their intriguing pivot from surreal fables to psychological horror.
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